The Road to Recovery
by TTGL Machine
Summary: After countless timelines, Homura finally found a way to defeat Walpurgisnacht and prevent Madoka from contracting. Time however, continues to move forward, and Homura finds that re-adjusting to society after reliving the same month over and over again isn't so easy. Especially when one wrong move could mean Madoka's death.
1. Chapter 1

"...Homura-chan?"

No response.

"..Homura-chan?"

"Huh?" Homura looked up to find Madoka clad in a pink and frilly one-piece dress, stepping out of a change room in the clothing store they were at. The pinkette was looking at her with a confused, maybe slightly worried look on her face.

"I asked what you thought of this one." Madoka stated, spinning around slightly to show the raven-haired girl the entirety of what she was wearing.

"Oh, it...looks good on you." Homura replied, not really sure what else to say. Truth be told, she didn't care what clothes Madoka was buying. All that mattered to her was the simple fact that Madoka was standing in front of her right now.

"Do you really think so? I wonder if it doesn't look flashy enough…" Madoka pondered as she took a look at herself in the nearby mirror. Homura had little to no fashion sense, so she wasn't really sure what advice she could give her. If she had to be honest, Madoka could be wearing her school uniform every day and she wouldn't care as long as it made her happy.

It was one of the only kind of clothing she'd ever seen her in, after all. The others being her magical girl attire and her pajamas on the few occasions where she stopped by her window at night. Seeing Madoka wear something different from those only served to remind her of how surreal the situation she was in right now.

The date was May 2nd. Exactly one week after the climactic battle with Walpurgisnacht. Homura Akemi had won. After living through the same month a countless amount of times, she had finally managed to be able to team up with the other girls and defeat the colossal witch. The city had taken significant damage, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed. The important thing to Homra was that now she could finally live in the same time as Madoka.

"Does it really need to be flashy?" Homura asked, staring at the pinkette with analytical eyes, wondering what aspect of the dress would define it as "flashy".

"Mom says that if I'm not wearing something flashy, I'll get looked down on." Madoka replied.

"...I see. You shouldn't care what other people think of you, Madoka." Homura responded in her usual stoic voice. "If you're not happy with how you look in it, it's not worth getting."

"That's no good, Homura-chan." Madoka frowned. "I don't think I'd be happy if people didn't think fondly of me because of how I looked!"

"Do you really think that's what people will think when you wear that?" Homura questioned back.

"Well, not really…" Madoka replied after taking another moment to think about it.

"Do you enjoy how it looks on you?"

Madoka took another look at herself in the mirror, going over the dress one more time before answering. "Yes. I think it looks cute!" She declared while smiling.

"Then buy it." Homura smiled as well. "I think it looks cute on you as well." She added, the pinkette's smile melting her heart as she went back in the room to change. Homura sighed and sat down on a nearby seat, watching the people move around her, going about their daily lives. She was about to close her eyes in relaxation while she waited for Madoka to step out of the room, when she noticed something on her seat. It was a pair of violet shorts and a black top with a series of constellations laid out all over it. " _Did Madoka forget to bring this in to try on?"_ Homura thought, when Madoka stepped out in her school uniform.

"All right, your turn Homura-chan!" She cried out cheerfully.

"M-My turn? But I don't need anything, Madoka." Homura replied, her mind darting back to the shorts and top. Madoka didn't expect her to wear that, did she? The pinkette only giggled and held up the clothing laid out on the seat for Homura to see.

"Don't be silly, I picked this out just for you Homura-chan! Try it on!" Madoka beamed as a blush appeared on Homura's face.

"I...really don't think I need this...nor do I think I'd look good in that, so Madoka-WAH!" Homura cried as Madoka grabbed her by her free hand and began gently guiding her to the change room. "W-what are you...I said I don't need-"

"Don't worry about that! Just try it on!" Madoka ignored the raven-haired girls' objections, and before Homura knew it, she was pushed into the room with the clothing she didn't want to wear hanging on a nearby rack. She sighed in defeat. If Madoka really wanted her to try it, she had no good reason to deny her. With the blush on her face growing redder, she changed into the shorts and top, and stepped out for Madoka to see.

Madoka's mouth opened wide with a smile when she saw Homura in that outfit. The constellation patterns on her shirt seemed to glitter in the store's light, contrasting perfectly with the violet shine of the shorts. Homura's face only grew redder as her eyes darted off to the side, only to find herself seeing her own reflection in a mirror.

She wasn't sure what to think. She wasn't used to seeing herself in anything but her school uniform, magical girl attire, and pajamas as well. The only thing she saw in the mirror was not a weary magical girl who fought witches, but rather a normal girl trying on clothes. It all came across as a huge shock to her. How long exactly had it been since she did something like this?

"Madoka I…" Homura uttered, not having any idea of what to say. Her face darted back towards Madoka once the pinkette grabbed her hands and continued smiling at her.

"Homura-chan, you look so cool!" Madoka continued beaming. "You should buy it!" After a moment of contemplation, Homura remembered that Madoka's happiness remained top priority. Homura's shock and embarrassment immediately melted away. If Madoka enjoyed seeing her in that, then she would get it.

"All right. If you really think that, then I'll buy it." Homura replied, making Madoka's smile even wider as she held her hand, the two staring at each other's eyes.

This all had to be some kind of dream, Homura thought. Yes, any moment now she would wake up and resume her fight. Deep down she knew this wasn't really happening. The universe was merely playing a cruel and twisted joke on her and would snatch her from this dream eventually. Regardless of what it was, that didn't stop Homura from treasuring every moment of it.

" _Fellow customers, Mitakihara Mall will be closing at 8:30."_ A voice on the intercom echoed throughout the store, snapping the both of them out of their trance. " _The mall will be closing at 8:30"_ It repeated.

"It's getting late." Homura stated. "We should probably get you home now." Madoka nodded in agreement. The both of them paid for their new clothing and continued walking together in the mall, heading towards the exit and stepping outside into the dimly-lit city.

The couple looked at the scenery around them. There was still a lot of cleanup work going around the city after the storm. Bits of debris were still on the street, some shops were damaged, and every now and then they would pass by a homeless person or two, upon which Madoka couldn't help gazing at with pity for a moment before continuing her walk with Homura.

"There's still so much damage from the Walpurgisnacht battle…" Madoka uttered softly.

"There is indeed." Homura replied. "Recovery efforts are going by all right. I estimate the city as a whole will be back to normal in a matter of weeks." She added, not adding anything else to the conversation.

"Homura-chan…" Madoka spoke before pausing. She stopped walking as well as she looked at the city around her being repaired.

"What is it?" Homura replied, stopping as well.

"I was just wondering...what are you going to do next?"

"Continue to protect you, of course." Homura replied, as if it was obvious.

"But...you don't have to use magic anymore right?" Madoka asked. "Kyubey mentioned that the Grief Seed Walpurgisnacht dropped would be able to keep your Soul Gem clean for the rest of your life, so are you not going to fight witches anymore?"

Homura thought for a moment before she responded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Grief Seed that dropped from Walpurgisnacht and stared at it. It was fairly bigger than the average Grief Seed, being about the size of a large marble. It was also different in that the pattern that surrounded the darkness swirling inside the seed wasn't static. It was an infinity symbol that moved. It reminded her of an old screen saver she used to use on her computer. The symbol's movements made it seem like it was rotating in three dimensions, when it was really just a two-dimensional optical illusion.

Kyubey had explained to her that she alone would now possess more power than any magical girl currently existing, and that the Grief Seed she carried had no possibility of turning into a witch, or rather, another Walpurgisnacht. In other words, she was free. The burden of fighting witches to find the seeds to cleanse her Soul Gem had been lifted from her. There was no reason for her to ever use magic again.

"I don't see why I have to." Homura finally replied, her eyes mesmerized by the moving pattern on the Grief Seed. "The number of witches that will appear in this city will drop dramatically with Walpurgisnacht's defeat." She put the Grief Seed back in her pocket and turned towards Madoka. "Why do you ask? You're not thinking of…"

"No, it's not that." Madoka re-assured her. With Walpurgisnacht gone, she didn't have any plans on making the contract anytime soon. "It's just...well...it's about what you told me before. About how...you came from the future."

"...What about it?" Homura responded, the tone of her voice not changing. She had tearfully confessed what she had been going through to Madoka on the night before the Walpurgisnacht battle. She wasn't sure if she truly believed her, but at the end of the day that really didn't matter to her, as long as Madoka was safe.

"Well...If what you said is really true...do you know what will happen from here on out?" Madoka asked, causing Homura's eyes to widen before she sadly lowered her head. She hadn't really focused on that question. After all, this was just a dream, wasn't it? Why bother thinking about the future now when she could be sent back to the harsh reality she truly lived in at any moment? Nevertheless, she answered Madoka's question truthfully.

"No. I don't." Homura replied. "All the times I travelled back in time were only after you were…" Homura's hand clenched into a fist as she said her next words. "...killed by Walpurgisnacht...or after you made the contract before that. This is the first time I've lived to see this date with you now." The two of them stood together silently for a moment.

"I...see…" Madoka finally replied, not sure on how else she could respond.

"We should get going. We're not far from your home" Homura said before turning around, wanting to drop the topic of conversation. The two continued their trek passing the half-repaired buildings until they finally reached Madoka's home.

Madoka and her family were one of the lucky ones, taking minimal damage from Walpurgisnacht and being able to resume their normal lives fairly quickly. Homura walked up to the door with Madoka before turning around to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Madoka." Homura said, before Madoka grabbed her arm.

"Homura-chan, wait!" The pinkette said, causing Homura to turn around.

"What is it?"

"Don't you want to come inside? I'm sure Mom and Dad would love to meet you!" Madoka asked. Homura smiled softly for a moment, but softly shook her head no.

"I promise I'll meet your parents eventually, but for now I'd rather go home and rest. I'm a bit tired after today." Homura replied, her heart sinking at Madoka's disappointed look on her face. Regardless, the pinkette softly smiled and saw her off. Homura took a moment to watch from a distance to make sure that Madoka made it back inside before beginning to make her way back to her apartment. She took a deep breath, as it was a half an hour walk from Madoka's home.

It was odd, she thought as she made the lonely walk towards the residential area where her apartment complex was. When she was by herself, it felt like nothing had changed. There was an instinctive urge for her to find a nearby alley and take out her Soul Gem to look for witches. But that was no longer necessary for her. For now, anyway. She assumed that she would soon be resuming her usual witch-hunting duties and weapons gathering from the beginning of the timeline once again, as soon as this dream was over.

This was all just a dream, right?

She found herself once again at her apartment door. Taking out the keys from her pocket, she opened it and went inside. She was greeted with the usual lonely sight. Same old barren, white walls. Same old coloured sofas. Same old monitors that with all the notes she had made about every witch she encountered throughout the different timelines.

Homura sighed as she went to her room. She put the clothes she had bought with Madoka in the laundry hamper and began to get changed into her pajamas. She brushed her teeth, shut off the lights, climbed into bed, closed her eyes, and sighed. Another sleep, another chance of waking up in that hospital bed at the beginning of April, ready to start the timeline all over again.

Sleep however, did not come to her so easily as it used to, she found. She tossed and turned in her bed, trying to get herself into a comfortable position, but had no such luck. She laid there for about an hour before she sat up, and turned on her bedside lamp. The questions Madoka had asked her today kept ringing in her mind, pestering her.

Homura grunted as she got up to get a glass of water. She was trying not to get used to how things were now, for she knew if she did, the moment she woke up from this happy dream she'd be all but devastated. The fact that this dream was going on this long was concerning, to say the least. If she let her guard down and embraced it with open arms, there was the possibility of turning into a witch when she woke up. An unlikely possibility, but a possibility that she didn't want to risk nonetheless.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a vibrating noise quickly followed by an upbeat tune. The default ringtone on her cell phone that was on her computer desk in her room. Homura stood there confused for a moment before making her way towards it, wondering who could possibly be calling her at this hour.

Her eyes widened when she saw Madoka's caller ID. Her hands probably moving at the speed of light, she rushed to answer it. Madoka never called this late. Was something wrong?

"Hello? Madoka?" Homura asked.

" _Homura-chan! Help me! Please hurr-GAAAAAAA!_ "

Dial tone.

Homura's pupil's shrank in horror. As if several switches in her mind clicked, Homura found herself running out the door into the night, her calm composure shattering and being replaced with fear and worry. Whatever was happening there, she wouldn't make it in time, she thought. But that didn't stop her. She activated her transformation and stopped time, still running as she did so.

Even as a magical girl, she could only run for so long before running out of breath. She felt her Soul Gem growing darker and darker the longer she kept time frozen. Any longer and time would resume, and she couldn't afford that right now. She needed to cleanse it quickly.

Her heart sank and dread filled her mind when she realized she didn't have it on her. She left her apartment in such a panicked rush that she didn't even remember to grab it.

" _You fool! How could you forget something that vital?!"_ Homura mentally screamed at herself. She cursed herself more when she realized she had stopped running as she was thinking this. As she expected, time had resumed.

She continued running. Her lungs felt like they wanted to explode. Her heart must have been beating a mile a minute. The muscles in her legs felt heavier and heavier with every step she took.

Madoka's house couldn't have been far now. Or could it? Homura's mind was racing so hard she couldn't recognize where she was. Every time she turned her head it seemed as if there was a new building she hadn't seen before. Was she even going the right way? Had she taken a wrong turn in a moment of blind fear? She couldn't have! She knew the route to Madoka's house like the back of her hand! Homura shook those questions out of her mind and continued running in what she assumed was the general direction towards Madoka's house. It must have been ten minutes since her time magic deactivated. She couldn't waste any more time. Homura screamed back at the dark thoughts that swirled in her mind with thoughts of hope.

"Please be all right. _Please be all right!"_ Homura yelled as tears began leaking from her eyes. But she didn't stop. In what felt like an eternity to her, she found herself at Madoka's house, gasping exasperatedly for air. Her eyes widened when she saw the sight in front of her.

There was a black car parked outside. One of the windows appeared to have been smashed open. The most horrifying sight however, was what she saw coming from Madoka's bedroom window.

An bright pink light was shining from it.

" _No…_ " Homura gasped. She couldn't. She wouldn't! "MADOKA!" She screamed.

Without thinking she jumped inside the broken window. Her exhaustion from running caused her to trip and fall on the broken glass on the floor inside. Not stopping to even check if she had cut herself, Homura got up and continued to run towards Madoka's room.

"You're late, Homura Akemi."

Homura stopped breathing. In front of her was the small white creature she despised so much. In front of her was a pool of blood on the floor. In front of her was her best friend, clad in that, to her, horrifying pink outfit that was Madoka's magical girl outfit, lying on the floor in agony as her Soul Gem turned from pink to dark.

All semblance of self control escaping her, she dashed over to her fallen friend and stood beside her, calling her name out in desperate cries, although knowing full well it was useless.

"Madoka Kaname was desperate." The Incubator continued speaking. "It certainly is a common kind of wish we grant, saving someone from attackers and making them disappear. Had I not granted her wish she would have easily perished at their hands. Especially after that wound they gave her." The Incubator's eyes stared emotionlessly at the raven-haired magical girl. "Though, things certainly wouldn't have gone this way had you stood by her side for tonight, Homura Akemi."

Homura gasped as the Incubator's words struck her like she was just slapped in the face. She could have avoided this. She abandoned her. She left her alone. She left her _vulnerable._

"No...NO!" Homura yelled as Madoka screamed, her Soul Gem shattering and the witch inside started to be born.

" _MADOKA!"_ Homura let out bloodcurdling scream as she found herself shooting upwards into an upright position. She was drenched in a cold sweat. She was gasping for breath. She was crying. She was…

...Back in her bed in her apartment. Homura looked over at her bedside clock as she continued panting. It was 7:00 A.M. on Saturday, May 3rd.

That couldn't be right, Homura thought. She shouldn't be here. She should be back in her hospital bed starting the timeline over again. It's what she always did after seeing that horrible sight. That's what happened, didn't it? That couldn't have been just an ordinary nightmare, could it?

People in dreams can't fall asleep and have nightmares, can they?

Homura shook those questions out of her mind and refocused her priorities. Madoka. She needed to know if she was safe. She got out of bed and ran to her phone, calling Madoka's cell number, not caring how early it was. Homura put the phone against her ear and waited for an answer. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Homura's hand began shaking. Four rings. Five rings.

"H-Hello…?" Came the small, familiar voice on the other end. Homura's hand stopped shaking and she let out a large sigh of relief.

"Madoka...oh thank goodness…"

"Homura-chan?" Madoka replied, her voice sounding more awake and concerned. "Why are you calling this early? Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"Yes...everything's fine. Don't worry. I...just wanted to make sure you were all right." Homura replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Of course I'm all right! Why wouldn't I be?" Madoka asked.

"It's...well…" Homura started to respond. She didn't want to tell Madoka she had a nightmare. "I just...had a bad feeling." She smiled softly. "I'll come see you and talk more later today. I'm fine Madoka. Really."

"Okay…" Madoka replied, not sounding entirely convinced. She didn't want to press the matter any further right now however, and decided to talk about it later. "See you later, Homura-chan."

"Yeah...see you later…" Homura replied, hanging up the phone. She took a deep breath, and exhaled. She walked over to her bathroom and began washing up. Was all of this truly real? Was Madoka truly safe now? Her mind kept flashing back to that horrible nightmare, where all she could do was watch how everything she worked so hard for was crushed within a single night because of her own stupidity. She took a long look at herself in the mirror.

Yes...Walpurgisnacht's defeat meant nothing, she thought as she clenched her fists. Dream or no dream, as long as she was alive, she still had a duty to uphold. The world was dangerous and cruel, and she had to remain by Madoka's side as much as she could. She needed to be extra careful now, for one careless mistake could easily send her back to that endless maze.

Her only purpose in life was protecting Madoka. Nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

 **So as I was writing Five Stages I thought to myself. Would Homura** _ **truly**_ **be happy even if she somehow was able to protect Madoka from Walpurgisnacht after all those timelines? I spent more and more time thinking about that question, and the next thing you know, I was writing this, haha.**

 **I don't think really anybody has attempted an idea like this before (at least not to my knowledge), so I'm excited to really give it a shot. :)**

 **See ya around! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

"So, who were you on the phone with so early Madoka?" Junko Kaname asked, spitting out her toothpaste and rinsing her mouth, doing her usual morning routine with her daughter.

"Oh, it was Homura." Madoka replied, her mind flashing back to the call Homura made. She had sounded very upset. The only other time her voice sounded that hoarse was when she confessed about her time travelling to her. "Wait, you heard me talking to her?" Madoka asked.

"No, I heard your phone ringing five times at maximum volume, which also served as my alarm clock this morning." Junko said as she gave her daughter a playful jab before leaning down and throwing water on her face.

"Oh...sorry Mom…" Madoka giggled. Her phone ringing had woken her up as well. Had it not been for the caller ID showing Homura's name, she probably wouldn't have even answered it.

"Don't apologize, just remember to set it to vibrate before you go to sleep." Junko smiled as she began drying her face with a towel. "So what did this mysterious and cool new friend of yours want from you this morning?" She asked. It had been a week since Madoka began telling her about the new friend she made at school, and Junko had been itching to meet her. Everything Madoka had told her about this girl had made her seem like a good influence. Smart, cool-headed, alert, and all around the kind of girl who seemed to be top of their class.

"Nothing, it's just…" Madoka paused, wondering how her mother would react to what she was going to say for a moment. "She wanted to know if I was okay."

"Okay?" Junko thought for a moment as she combed her hair. Madoka had also mentioned that this person also seemed to really care about her, to which Junko initially didn't think too much about. Sayaka Miki had cared about her. Hitomi Shizuki cared about her. But neither of them had ever called her at seven in the morning to make sure of it. She mulled over what the problem could have been before responding: "Perhaps she had a nightmare."

"You think so?" Madoka looked up as she put on her red hair ribbons.

"It's possible. That's just a guess from me though. You should ask her about it at school today." Junko replied, to which Madoka nodded.

"I will. Homura said she'd meet up with me." Madoka replied.

"Good. One thing you should know though." Junko added. "If she's the kind of girl I think she is from what you've been telling me, I imagine she won't want to talk about it. Girls like that tend to have a lot of pride, strictly speaking. I doubt she'd want a cute and bubbly girl like you to know she got scared from a silly nightmare." The mother grinned and began gently ruffling Madoka's hair.

"M-Moooom, cut that out!" Madoka giggled, wriggling away from her mother's hand.

"Still, make sure to remember to respect her privacy. If it's something personal that she really doesn't feel like sharing, you should drop the subject. If that's not it though, try and make an effort to get her to open up about whatever problem she has." Madoka nodded along to her mother's teachings, her eyes staring at her in admiration.

"But, how would I know whether or not it's right to press her on the subject?" Madoka asked.

"It's all about the facial cues and body movements, Madoka." Junko replied, moving towards her and leaning down to make direct eye contact with her. "You know how I can easily tell when you're lying?" Madoka turned away with a blush and giggled softly, a guilty look spreading across her face, to which Junko pointed at. "Right there. That goofy smile, rosy cheeks, and the way your body shifts around like that often tells me when you're trying to hide something." Junko grinned as she suddenly moved her hands towards Madoka's sides and began prodding her fingers against them, sending the pinkette into a fit of giggles.

"Ahahahaha! Mom! That tickles! Ahaahahaha! Q-quit it!" Madoka pleaded through her laughter. Junko chuckled alongside her before pulling her hands back.

"It's just like that. You'll know whether or not something's wrong, and whether it's right for you to keep going or pull back. All you need to do is get a good read on her."

"I think with Homura, that's easier said than done." Madoka replied with a chuckle. Homura was the kind of girl who practically made it impossible to get any kind of read on. But at the end of the day, she understood what her mother was talking about. As someone who was the head of a large company, she knew a thing or two about understanding people via facial cues and body movements. "Still, I think I know what you mean Mom. If it's with me, I think I can get her to talk about it."

"Excellent. Now go get changed and have breakfast. You don't want to be late for school." Junko smiled.

The pinkette turned around and started to head downstairs to have breakfast and see the rest of her family off before school. Suddenly she heard a noise. She turned around to find her mother leaning her head backwards for a moment, taking quick breaths, before violently jerking forward, letting out a loud sneeze, and then another one..

"B-bless you!" Madoka said twice before running towards her. "Are you okay Mom?" She asked. That was an awfully loud sneeze.

"Ahaha...I'm fine Madoka, really." Junko smiled, waving her right hand at her. "It's May after all. Must be that time of year. Happens to everybody." Madoka looked at her with concern for a moment before heading to her room to get changed. The proud businesswoman saw her off before doing the same.

After picking out her outfit to wear to work today, she started to head off to join the rest of her family downstairs. She then heard her cell phone vibrate quickly nearby. Junko frowned as she picked it up and gazed over the amount of text messages she had been receiving. Things at the company she worked at hadn't been going very well ever since the storm. People less fortunate were taking time off to take care of damages at home, some computers had been damaged and needed to be replaced, not to mention the changes to budgets that needed to be made in order to account for all of that. It had been an exhaustion for her every day, and it felt like things weren't going to ease up for her anytime soon.

A nauseating feeling came over her and she put her hand to her head, making a mental note to take an aspirin. Today was going to be a long day, she thought.

* * *

Homura did not feel good about going to school today. Well, she had never felt good about going to school at all, but today felt especially more awkward than usual. Usually, she found herself prepared for anything, having experienced it multiple times in her time loops. But now, she was starting to feel as lost as she did when she transferred to Mitakihara Middle School for the first time, before she learned of the existence of Magical Girls and Witches.

The day started out regularly enough. She walked to school, said hello to Madoka, and endured another one of their teacher Kuzuko Saotome's rants about how terrible men were. However, that all changed during second period, in math class. They had started a new chapter in their textbooks, and Homura found out to her dismay that she did not understand anything that the teacher was saying.

It had suddenly dawned on her on how detached she was from her studies in general. The only reason she was able to do as well as she did last month was from pure memorization of having repeated it over and over. Now that she had finally gotten past it, it was starting to come back to her on just how _stupid_ she was.

"Akemi-san, could you come up and solve this?"

Then those words were uttered from the teacher's mouth, and all eyes in the room were on her. Not being able to find a way to refuse, Homura walked towards the whiteboard, only staring at the problem on it. Had she looked around, she'd have found gazes of admiration staring at her, waiting for her to effortlessly solve it like she always had. Having great expectations of her.

She took the marker and held it up in front of the board. Her hand was still, but her mind was racing. She had no idea where to even begin with this. It didn't make any sense. None of it did.

A part of her mind told her not to care about it, and just ask the teacher for assistance. It wasn't like Madoka would think any less of her for not being able to solve an unfamiliar math problem. But another part of her mind was reminding her of how she was supposed to be different from back then.

She was no longer that frail, helpless girl who constantly needed to trouble others for assistance. She was supposed to be stronger now. She defeated a 350 meter tall Witch that nearly destroyed the city she lived in. How could she not handle something as measly as this?

"Akemi-san?" The teacher asked. The students behind her began to murmur. Homura grit her teeth as she tried to tune them out of her mind. There was only one person in this room that she cared about. What others thought of her meant nothing. Quickly going over the problem one more time, she wrote down the answer that felt the most logical to her based on what she knew.

"I'm sorry Akemi-san, that's incorrect." The teacher uttered as the murmuring grew louder. The voices sounded confused, some shocked. Unfortunately for her, her heightened hearing as a magical girl allowed her to hear them more clearly than some students hoped.

" _Is she okay? I thought that one was easy…"_

" _Akemi-san usually really knows her math, has she not been studying?"_

" _Well, she WAS in the hospital for half a year, maybe it's her heart condition acting up?"_

Homura clenched her fists and grit her teeth away from everyone's eyes. She didn't need this. She put her hand to her forehead.

"Sorry. I'm not feeling very well right now. Can I please be excused to the nurse's office?" Homura asked, to which the teacher nodded. Homura then quickly walked out of the room, trying to escape the murmurs of the students behind her.

What had come over her? Why did their words bother her so much? What was that sense of weakness that she felt once she saw what, to everyone else was apparently a simple math problem?

"Homura-chan?" Came an all-too familiar voice from behind her. She turned around and saw that familiar worried look on Madoka's face. "Are you all right?"

"...I'm fine. I just needed some space." Homura replied as she continued walking. Madoka followed her.

"Um...if you need help we can study together with Hitomi!" The pinkette offered. Homura stopped walking. "She's really smart with these things, so I'm sure she could help you!" Madoka chuckled as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm not too good with math either."

Homura smiled softly. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Homura-chan...are you sure you're okay?" Madoka asked. .

"What do you mean?" Homura's smile faded.

"It's just, well...when you called me this morning." Madoka replied. "You sounded really upset. Is something bothering you?" The two of them remained silent in the familiar hallway where their first meeting took place.

"...I'm fine. Really." Homura assured her, but Madoka's face didn't change. "I couldn't be happier, actually. After so long...I was finally able to defeat Walpurgisnacht, and keep the promise that I made to you." Homura gave Madoka another small smile after saying that, somewhat relieving the pinkette, but not entirely convincing her. Still, Madoka decided not to press her on the matter, remembering her mother's words. She decided to change the subject.

"So, will you finally come and meet my parents tonight?" Madoka asked. "They really do want to meet you, you know."

"Yes." Homura replied, nodding her head. "Tonight, I promise I'll come and meet them." Madoka beamed and gave the raven-haired girl a hug. Whatever was bothering her seemed to not be affecting her now, and it was clear to Madoka that she needed to spend as much time with her as she could.

"Do you feel okay to come back to class now?" The pinkette asked.

"No, I think I could still use a bit of a rest. I won't be long though." Homura replied, continuing to walk to the nurse's office once more, with Madoka continuing to escort her. While Homura's heart was warmed from Madoka walking by her side, her mind began to drift back to how she felt in the classroom.

Just what exactly was that moment of weakness she felt that made her almost lose control of herself? It felt so horrible, yet at the same time it felt so...familiar. Homura gazed to Madoka, who in turn looked back at her with her warm smile. She really must have not gotten enough sleep last night, she thought. Yes, that had to be it.

Tonight, she was going to spend time with Madoka and be formally introduced to her family. That, she decided was something she needed to focus on. While she knew what her mother, father, and baby brother looked like, she had never actually interacted with them, and needed to make a good first impression. Something like that shouldn't be too hard, she thought.

* * *

"Come on...there has to be something in here good enough to wear..." Homura thought in frustration.

At the end of the school day, she returned home to get changed, promising to be at Madoka's house at 5:30 before dinner. It was now 4:30 and Homura had no idea what she was going to wear. She couldn't show up there in her school uniform, and the new clothes she bought still needed to be washed.

Homura rummaged through her closet and drawers, feeling a wave of nervousness wash over her once again. What if she had picked something out that was considered ugly or out of style?

"Come on…" She spoke to herself. "There must be something here that stands out…" Homura paused as she said those words. It was only a week ago that her biggest concern was making sure Madoka would return home alive and with her humanity intact. Now here she was feeling concerned for how she would look tonight in front of Madoka and her family. Homura would have found it funny had the sensation not felt so...off to her. It all felt like this was happening in some other world.

Homura shook her head and sighed as she continued looking through her clothing, until she found something. It was a simple one-piece white dress. It wasn't exactly fancy-looking, but it looked like something formal enough to make a decent first impression in. Below the dress in the closet were a pair of heeled white shoes to match it.

Homura stared at the dress for a moment. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about this dress felt so familiar to her. A sense of deja-vu came upon her as she began to slowly put it on, trying to make sure not to accidentally rip it. Homura put on the shoes and looked at herself in the mirror, making the deja-vu she was feeling feel even stronger.

She shook that feeling off once she looked at the time. 4:45. Homura wanted to show up to Madoka's place early, and she knew how long it took for her to walk from her apartment to Madoka's house. She brushed her hair and gave it a flip with her fingers, took the Infinity Grief Seed with her, put it in her pocket, and walked out of the door.

Homura took a deep breath as she began the long, familiar trek back. She stopped after taking the first step as a thought came over her. She took out her phone and opened an application on it that displayed the arrival times for several buses near her. Sure enough, there would be one arriving in less than five minutes at a bus stop a bit of ways into the city. Any normal human would be forced to miss it, as it would take a little bit more than five minutes if they really ran for it. Homura, on the other hand was a different story.

Smirking to herself, she quickly walked back inside, made sure no one was looking, and transformed into her magical girl attire. She stopped time, and began running towards the stop where the bus would arrive. It never really occurred to her just how useful her abilities could be for situations like these, she thought. Had she not possessed a Grief Seed that could cleanse a Soul Gem an infinite amount of times, she would have called it a waste of magic.

With not a second of real-world time passing as she ran, she found herself at the bus stop. Knowing she couldn't resume time out in the open without people noticing, she headed into a nearby alleyway. After double checking that nobody was around, she disabled her magic and returned to her normal attire. She began walking out of the alleyway, when suddenly, she heard a noise.

"UGH! I'm phhteelling you I'm FINE!"

A loud, angry woman's voice shouted from a door far into the alleyway. It seemed to be the back door of a bar. The door opened up and a tall woman was shown to be gently escorted out of it by a man wearing an apron.

"You're clearly not, and you've been making a scene. You shouldn't even be drinking at this hour, let alone drinking at all in your condition."

"Lllike any men-hic-like you know SSSHIT about when I can and cccan't-hic-DRINK!" The woman shot back, attempting to slap the man, but her hand moved so slow and wobbly the man simply caught it and sighed.

"Mam, I certainly hope you didn't drive here because right now you're a danger to yourself and others." The man reached into his pocket and handed her something. "Here, you dropped your phone in the bar. Please call a cab, your family, or somebody else to take you home. You're a valued customer here Mrs. Kaname, and we and your family would hate to lose you."

" _Kaname?"_ Homura thought as she overheard the two of them. She strengthened her eyesight with her magic to get a closer look at the woman. Sure enough, it was the exact same woman whom she thought she'd be meeting tonight at Madoka's place.

"LLLLooose me?! Yeeer damn right yer gunna-hic-LOSE me if ya-hic-don't let me back in and hit me up with another-hic-pint!"

"Yes yes, I understand completely. Please do the right thing and get home safely, Mrs. Kaname. Don't worry about paying, it's on the house for tonight. We will welcome your return once you're feeling better." The man said, not humouring her words anymore and walking back in, closing the door behind him and locking it.

"Y-yoooou!" Mrs. Kaname growled, spitting on the door and angrily stomping away from it. "P-people l-l-like him-hic are all the same! Can't freakin'-hic do their damn-hic JOBS!" She angrily spoke to herself before slowing down. Her movements became more erratic as Homura watched. Her eyes widened once she saw her collapse on the ground, twitching. Homura ran over to her, now that she knew that this woman was in fact Madoka's mother, completely forgetting about the bus.

"Are you all right?" Homura asked, to which the collapsed woman looked up at her, and a weak smile appeared on her face.

"Ooooh kid...nice-hic-dress...c-can you do a girl a-hic-favour and-hic-fetch me a….fetch me a…" The woman began repeating. Her face was completely red, with sweat trickling down her forehead. Homura put her hand to the woman's forehead and felt a terrible heat emanating from it. This woman wasn't just drunk, she was sick! Homura turned around as she heard the sound of the bus driving past her. She clenched her fists in frustration. Mrs. Kaname wasn't going to get home easy now.

Had it been anybody else, Homura probably would have just left the deluded and sick drunk laying there. But the fact that this was Madoka's mother brought a whole new variable to the equation. While the number of witches in this city may have decreased dramatically, there were still a whole lot of other plain nasty people who would gladly take advantage of a situation like this. Homura wasn't about to let Madoka's mother meet a fate like that in an alleyway of all things. She knelt down and helped the woman to her feet.

"Come with me. You can't stay here." Homura told Mrs. Kaname, who was only half awake now. She let the woman rest upon her shoulders and helped guide her steps.

"Ooooooh….where're we goin' sweetheart-hic?" Mrs. Kaname chuckled softly as Homura rolled her eyes, slowly heading back to her own apartment. "Ddddidn't yer mama tell you to never-hic talk to straaangers…"

"You're technically not a stranger. Just keep walking, we should be there soon." Homura stated.

"Ohohoho...now that I gots a good lookachu…" Mrs. Kaname mumbled, looking at Homura's face as she stumbled around off balance. The woman put her index finger on Homura's side and ran it downwards. Homura couldn't help but flinch and let out a light chuckle at the tickling sensation. "Ya do look familiaarrr-hic. Do I know you from high schooool..."

"C-cut that out!" Homura cried, letting the woman go as they arrived at Homura's apartment complex. "Anyway, we're here so just hold on a moment." Homura added as she reached for her keys in her pocket, and began to open the lock with them. She paused when she heard Mrs. Kaname start making noises, like she was in some sort of pain. "Are you all right-" Was all Homura could get out before she found her back getting splattered with vomit coming from the woman's mouth. "Damn it…" Homura muttered.

"Oops...s-soorry about that k-kiddo…" Mrs. Kaname's words and movements sounded more and more disoriented. She needed to lie down quickly.

"Don't worry, just come inside." Homura frowned. She lead Mrs. Kaname to her bedroom, helped her take off her shoes, and set her down on her bed. By now her drunken ramblings had been reduced to an uncomfortable silence, as Homura helped remove Mrs. Kaname's vomit-induced clothing and had her lie down. She fell asleep instantly, as she began to snore.

"Finally." Homura muttered as she began to remove her own clothing as well. Luckily, the vomit on her dress appeared to mostly be just the remains of alcohol, and wouldn't leave any large stains, or at least she hoped so in the back of her mind. She put it in the laundry hamper with her other dirty clothing and went to the kitchen. Homura wet a cloth and put it on top of Junko's forehead to lower the fever. Once that was done, she moved to the laundry room with her hamper and put all her dirty clothes in the washing machine and turned it on.

After getting a change of clothes, Homura sighed. She collapsed on one of the coloured sofas in her living room. This was not how she thought this evening would go, nor was it how she would make her first interactions with Madoka's mother. While she had seen her several times in other timelines, she never actually knew her personally. She certainly didn't expect her to apparently be a heavy drinker who passed out easily in alleyways. Homura knew from conversations she had with Madoka that she drank a lot, but she never imagined it would be quite like what she saw from her tonight. Nor was she expecting to be the one to act like an adult treating a sick child and caring for her, as little as she thought she did in that matter.

And yet...there was something relieving about this to her. If she had to be honest with herself, a part of her was nervous about meeting Madoka's parents tonight. From the way Madoka had described her mother in previous conversations, she had gotten the impression that she was generally a strict person. Obviously Homura didn't think she was so strict that she had no kindness whatsoever, but still strict enough for there to be a chance of not approving of her had she been careless. After tonight though, she felt like there was nothing to really worry about regarding her.

Of course, there was no guarantee that would be true once the woman sobered up and felt better, but Homura didn't really pay any mind to it at that point. Right now, Homura thought as she glanced at her phone nearby, she needed to let Madoka know what happened. She dialed Madoka's cell phone and waited for her to pick up.

"Madoka? Listen...I think it may be best if you come to my apartment tonight instead." Homura explained.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!**

 **For those of you who are probably wondering, yeah students in Japan apparently go to school on Saturdays. I'm pretty much following Persona game logic, if you're familiar with that series.**

 **Looking it up, it's pretty confusing. Apparently students in Japan have every other Saturday off, but the Persona games just make it every Saturday, haha.**

 **Oh well, shouldn't matter to this story too much.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of this story so far! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Junko's eyes opened up, groggily. Her head was pounding, so much so that it hurt to move it. She felt hot all over. The only place where she didn't feel any heat was from the damp, cold cloth that was on her head.

"Ugh...my head...what happened…" Junko asked herself, trying to retrace her steps. Work had been a nightmare, even worse than she initially thought it would be. Her headache had persisted throughout the entire morning throughout work, not doing any wonders for her management there, and it was at the worst possible time.

Many of her co-workers had suggested her taking the day off, but Junko was too stubborn and determined to get the company back in top form as soon as possible. Her headache only got worse as the day went on, and it didn't affect her temper any better. Combine that with the frustration she had felt from many important staffers not being at work, and Junko found herself overworked, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Junko sighed. All of that put together had stressed her out so much that she couldn't help herself but do the one thing she loved during difficult times. She didn't plan on drinking much, just one glass before heading home would have sufficed. Or so she thought, anyway. After that, Junko's memory was all a blur. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in this bed...wait, where was she?

Junko's eyes widened as she slowly turned her head and looked around. This wasn't her bed. This wasn't her room. There was a clock on a bedside drawer that showed the current time being about 8:30. She should have been at her home meeting Madoka's new friend three hours ago. Junko grit her teeth. She had forgotten completely about that. She also saw her own sweater and pants being neatly hung on a nearby chair.

Junko Kaname was not a woman known to panic. But she knew the situation she found herself in wasn't something to take lightly. She remembered going to the bar at around four, so that meant she must have gotten drunk at some point, which would explain the minor memory loss. Add that with the fact that she was now waking up in some unknown bed with her most of her clothes off to the side was NOT a good sign.

She needed to get out of here, wherever "here" was. Junko sat up, only to feel a rush of pain shoot up to her head when she did. Her body felt tired and weak as she put a palm to her head.

"Damn, damn!" Junko uttered in pain. Then she noticed the doorknob turning on the door in front of her, and stared at it, preparing to greet her captors. No man or woman opened the door however. What greeted her instead was a short raven-haired girl, who looked almost Madoka's age. She was wearing a Mitakihara Middle School uniform. What really caught Junko's attention however, were the girls' cold and empty purple eyes.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" The girl asked, her voice soft, but blunt. Junko's emotions instantly changed from slight fear, anger, and irritation, to just confusion. This young girl couldn't have been the one to have brought her here, could she?

"I've been better…" Junko responded weakly, the heat she felt all over her body feeling agonizing. Regardless of how she felt, she felt it was time to get some answers. "Where am I?" She calmly asked.

"You're in my apartment. I found you in an alleyway near a bar. You were drunk and also running a fever, so I took you here before someone else found you." The girl replied, the soft but cold tone of her voice not changing.

"I see…" Junko replied back. "And you are…?"

"My name is Homura Akemi. I'm...a close friend of your daughter, Madoka Kaname." Homura introduced herself, bowing slightly in respect. "I've already called her and told her about what happened."

Junko's mouth opened in mild shock. This was the girl she was supposed to meet tonight? She almost didn't believe her. Still, she couldn't deny that this girl matched how Madoka described her. She had long black hair, beautiful purple eyes, and she also seemed to be slightly taller than Madoka. The fact that she was wearing a uniform from Madoka's school helped her case as well. Regardless of that though, one thing didn't make sense to Junko.

"How did you know who I am?" Junko asked.

"I saw you once in a picture Madoka showed to me, and I heard the bartender you were arguing with mention your name, Mrs. Kaname." Homura replied, still in that same cold tone, showing no emotion to her whatsoever. Homura then reached into her pocket and took out her phone. "They're on their way." Homura added after looking at it for a moment. "My apartment isn't that far from your house, so they shouldn't be long if they're coming by car." Junko eyed her curiously for a moment before coming to the conclusion that this girl wasn't lying. She sighed.

"Honestly..." Junko started to speak, smiling softly as she looked up at the ceiling. "Getting plastered immediately after a terrible day at work, and having my daughter's friend clean up after me. I really messed up today, didn't I?" Junko added, speaking more to herself than to Homura. She then looked directly at the raven-haired girl as she began to slowly slide off of the bed, her strength slowly coming back to her. "Looks like I owe you one, kid."

"It really wasn't any trouble." Homura lied. Getting this woman here was more trouble than she could imagined. "You should stay there and get as much rest as you can before they arrive." Homura added. She attempted to lower the fever a bit with her magic while Junko was sleeping, but Homura wasn't Sayaka Miki, and she wasn't sure how potent it would be. It must have worked well enough though, as Junko gently waved her off with a light chuckle.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I can't exactly greet my little girl and husband like this, can I?" Junko replied, looking at her clothes on the chair.

"Your clothes were partially drenched in vomit, so I took the liberty of mixing them in with my own laundry while I waited for Madoka." Homura explained. "I called her as soon as you fell asleep, but it seems your husband and son were both out and wouldn't be back until later, so I took advantage of the opportunity."

"Aw, you didn't need to do that." Junko smiled, before changing her pleasant facial expression into a stern one. "Even so, while I thank you for your generosity, I can't help but reprimand you a little for this." Junko added, Homura's eyes slightly widened. What had she done wrong? "Despite what you knew about my name and my looks, Kaname is a common Japanese name, and I'm pretty sure you could find another gorgeous woman with looks similar to mine out there. It might be uncommon, but it's not impossible." Junko then slowly stood up and walked over to her clothes and began to put them back on. "You're lucky that I am in fact, Madoka's mother. What would you have done if I turned out to be someone else? Someone who might not be so friendly? You'd have invited a complete stranger into your home and put yourself in danger." Junko continued to speak to her in a soft but stern tone.

Homura couldn't really respond with the fact that she knew this woman before from the multiple timelines she had been through, so she bowed her head in apology. She knew this woman meant well and was only offering her the kind of important advice any parent should give to a child, so she saw no reason to argue.

"I understand." Homura responded. "I made sure it was you though. I apologize, but while you were sleeping here I checked your ID from your purse. I put it back without taking anything though." Junko frowned at that, though she understood Homura's reasoning. "Still, even if I didn't check, let's just say I had a good hunch it was you, and well..." Homura paused. "If I just let something happen to someone very important to Madoka…" Homura's hands clenched into fists. "I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself."

Junko looked at Homura curiously as she finished putting on her clothes. She had noticed that Homura's voice, while it had held that same, controlled emotionless tone throughout their conversation, suddenly gained a hint of pain to it. She spoke those words with such passion and sincerity, which was odd to Junko, seeing as to her, Madoka apparently met Homura only a week ago. Or at least, that's when Madoka started telling her about Homura anyway.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're so considerate of my daughter." Junko replied, her facial expression gaining a warm smile once again. Though she made a mental note to make sure everything was still in her purse, just in case. Homura didn't respond, she just simply nodded at Junko, her facial expression not changing.

"Are your parents not home right now?" Junko asked, changing the subject. "I'd like to tell them about this."

Homura responded with silence as she stared back at Junko, gathering her thoughts. To tell the truth, she had very nearly forgotten about her familial situation throughout her time-travelling. She had paid it no mind then, seeing as she only cared about one person throughout those timelines. Luckily for her, she anticipated the possibility of a question like that being raised before she left her apartment that night, and managed to recall the bare minimum of facts that led to her living situation in Mitakihara.

"I don't have any parents." Homura responded bluntly. "I was raised in an orphanage in Tokyo, where I had attended a Christian school there. The reason I'm in Mitakihara now is because of my heart condition." Homura pointed to her chest. "The only city with hospitals that had the appropriate technology for treating it was this one, so I ended up transferred here."

"I'm...very sorry to hear that." Junko replied, a look of sympathy appearing on her face. This fourteen year-old girl was living all by herself?

"It's all right." Homura said whilst cracking a small smile, the first one Junko had seen from her that evening. "My heart is steadily recovering. I need to stay in the city and make monthly trips to the hospital so the doctors can monitor it, so I'm in good hands." Homura added, obviously not mentioning that she had healed her weak heart with her magic. She figured those trips to the doctor weren't even necessary anymore.

Junko remained silent for a moment to take all of that in. This girl certainly didn't have the goddess of fortune smiling down upon her. Yet she had spoke of those facts so bluntly, like they meant next to nothing to her anymore. Somewhere deep in Junko's mind sparked a small idea of why Homura seemed to care for Madoka a lot. This was a mere hunch of her own though, and she decided not to pry on it. Her thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of knocking heard outside the room, causing both girls to turn their heads towards it.

"That must be Madoka." Homura stated, to which Junko nodded in agreement as Homura went to go open it. It seemed that this was all she was going to learn about Homura tonight. Needless to say, Junko found her very interesting, and was happy to know that this girl with a troubled past was able to become friends with her daughter.

Regardless, there was something about Homura that Junko couldn't help but feel concerned about. Homura had came off just as calm, composed, and cool-looking as Madoka described her. But if what she told her about her background was true, it didn't seem realistic to her for Homura to not sound the least bit pained when she spoke about it. No person who grew up in an orphanage ever seemed to have a lifestyle that could be considered ideal to say the least. Especially when she factored in Homura's heart condition. Yet despite that, Homura sounded more pained talking about Madoka than her own backstory.

Junko took in a deep breath as she left the room as well to greet her daughter. Perhaps she was simply overthinking things, she thought. Whatever the case, she had seemed like a very nice and considerate girl, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

* * *

"We can't thank you enough for what you've done, Akemi-san." Tomohisa Kaname happily stated at the door alongside Madoka and his wife. In his right hand he carried a small carriage holding Madoka's baby brother Tatsuya, who was sound asleep.

"I was so relieved Mom was with you, Homura-chan!" Madoka chimed in as well, bowing her head in thanks. "When she didn't come home on time I really was starting to get worried."

"It's all right. It really wasn't any trouble at all." Homura replied, again not telling the truth to avoid bothering the Kanames.

"I hope my wife wasn't too much of a bother for you." Tomohisa playfully joked as Junko wearily rolled her eyes. "We would have been here earlier had I not been out with Tatsuya for most of the evening, and right when my phone's battery died as well." He sighed. Homura smiled softly as she shook her head.

"She was sound asleep ever since I brought her here, so I think the timing worked out well for the both of us." Homura responded before bowing her head in respect. "It was good to finally meet you." She added.

"It was good to meet you too, Homura Akemi." Junko replied, taking another look at the room around her from the doorway. Droll, drab, and lonely were the only words she could describe it as. "It's always good to see my daughter making friends with cool and mature girls like you." She grinned, causing Homura to blush slightly in embarrassment, the first words Madoka spoke to her ringing somewhere in the back of her memory. Madoka had apparently noticed it.

"Mom, don't embarrass her!" Madoka cried out, causing Junko to ruffle the pinkette's hair. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Madoka asked once Junko finished.

"Oh, don't worry about me." Junko replied. "Your mama just made the mistake of overworking herself today, sweetie. I should be fine with a good night's rest, and back to full working at capacity by Monday." Junko estimated. She really was starting to feel a little bit better after sobering up, though she was wondering how that fever she was feeling was starting to go down already. She assumed it was another reason to thank Homura for. The fever may haven't been that high to begin with, but Homura must have done a good job treating her if she was feeling this much better already. Junko decided not to really pay attention to that right now, as another thought entered her mind at that moment.

"In any case, the important thing is I found you before anyone else did." Homura stated. "I'm glad I was able to help." Madoka beamed.

"Thank you so much, Homura-chan!" The pinkette replied, beaming. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Homura said, preparing to close the door.

"Wait, Homura." Junko stopped her.

"What is it?" Homura asked. "Did you forget something?"

"No, it's not that. I was just thinking...would you like to spend the night at our place tonight?" Junko offered. Homura could only stare at her for a few moments after hearing that suggestion. Madoka's eyes widened and her mouth opened agape, not expecting her mother to offer that at all.

"Why do you ask?" Homura replied in a questioning tone. "I'm very grateful for your offer, but I wouldn't want to impose on you if you're not feeling well."

"This night was supposed to be us formally meeting you and having dinner together." Junko responded firmly. "But because of my own reckless behaviour, that unfortunately had to be cancelled tonight. I feel like I wouldn't be able to relax if I didn't pay you back somehow." She smiled and gave her a wink. "It's best not to pay your debts right away, lest you let the interest pile up." She chuckled.

"I don't have any problems with it." Tomohisa chimed in. "We'd be happy to have you, Akemi-san. It's the least we can do."

"Please, Homura-chan!" Madoka beamed, her eyes gleaming with happiness from the suggestion. She was disappointed that Homura wasn't able to come over that night due to her mother being in Homura's care for the evening, so the thought of Homura coming over for dinner turning into a full-on sleepover with excited Madoka greatly. "It'll be fun!"

Homura could only stare in silence for a few more moments as she inwardly sighed. She could see that Madoka's kindness must have ran through her family. Being invited to stay over at her house on such short notice, and after what must have been a confusing night for all of them? Homura had given up at that point.

"All right. I'll come. Just give me a few minutes to get my things." Homura replied with a gentle smile, causing Madoka's smile to grow even wider, along with the smiles on Junko and Tomoshia's faces.

"We'll be waiting outside." Junko stated as the Kaname family walked out of the apartment complex.

Not wanting to keep them waiting long, Homura quickly emptied her school bag and packed her pajamas, toothbrush, and the clothes she had bought with Madoka on Friday. She locked her apartment door, and headed outside. She looked around to see which car belonged to the Kaname's, and saw Madoka waving her hand outside the window of one of them. Homura ran over to it and opened the door.

"Sorry it's a bit cramped." Junko said in the front passenger seat. There was just barely enough room for Homura. Tatsuya's car seat was pretty big, and Madoka was sitting on the hump, leaving Homura squeezed in between Madoka and the car door on her right. She had to keep her school bag on her lap as she put her seatbelt on and closed the door. "You okay back there?"

"I'm fine." Homura muttered, with Madoka beaming next to her. The Kanames clearly haven't planned for three people to be sitting in the back seats very often. Not that Homura minded sitting closely to Madoka, it was still a tight squeeze. After confirming that her seatbelt was secure, Tomohisa started the car and drove off.

Everything about this felt unnatural, Homura thought. Here she was, sitting in a vehicle on her way to her friend's house for an impromptu sleepover. It almost didn't feel real to her, she thought as she gazed over to Madoka's smiling face. Surely it would be about now that she would wake up from this cruel dream she was being taunted with, right? Or maybe this was a plan by the incubator, who had trapped her in some dream world in an attempt to turn into a witch by their own hands.

Homura's eyes widened at that thought. Could he and his race actually do that? It would make sense, considering that Madoka had no reason to make a contract now. She couldn't just be being paranoid, could she? Homura looked outside the car window and gazed at the passing scenery around her in the evening moonlight. People were walking on the sidewalks, talking with each other, playing with each other, laughing, crying, and just overall doing everything humans should do. It looked real. It sounded real.

Yet to Homura, somehow her being in this situation didn't _feel_ real. Could that nightmare she had last night be have been an omen of some sorts? Was Madoka actually in danger right now and she was trapped? Could Madoka actually be-

"We're here" Tomohisa stated as the car pulled into the driveway, snapping Homura out of her trance. The family exited the car, with Madoka helping Tomohisa carry the sleeping Tatsuya inside. Homura walked inside and took her shoes off, upon which her eyes started gazing around the interior of the house.

A gentle cold air had enveloped her the moment she stepped inside. The difference between her apartment and the Kaname household was like night and day. There were pictures of Madoka and her family hanging on the walls and standing in frames on top of drawers. Everything about this place felt warm and welcoming, as opposed to the sheer emptiness of her apartment. While she silently admired the interior of the house, Tomohisa had gone to put Tatsuya to bed, while Junko had gone upstairs to do the same to herself, after quickly saying good night to the two girls. After that, Tomohisa came to show Homura to where she would be sleeping.

The spare bedroom he had guided her to even felt welcoming, in a way. There wasn't much in it beside a bed and a few drawers, but there was a window where she got a wonderful view of the nighttime city. After thanking the father for his hospitality and saying good night to Madoka, Homura changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth before climbing into the spare bed.

Homura sighed as she gazed upon the illuminating view of the city and reflected upon events of that evening. This was the first time she had been formally invited into Madoka's place in a long time. The only other times she had come here were to always warn Madoka of the dangers of making a contract with Kyubey. Perhaps she had come here in the very first few timelines she had been through, when she was eager to become a magical girl and redo her time with Madoka. But to her that was such a long time ago that she very nearly forgot about it, along with the other details of her life before becoming a magical girl.

The only things she had remembered about that previous life were her own weak heart, her weak eyesight, the fact that she was raised in an orphanage, and the wish she made to Madoka that started it all.

Homura stared at the city through the window for a few moments before her eyes trailed towards the ceiling, waiting for sleep to overtake her. She reflected back upon those timelines, and wondered just how many times she had reset the loops. Hundreds? Maybe thousands? Just how old was she, mentally? Was she in her twenties now? Perhaps even older than that? She had never given this much thought before, as the only thing on her mind merely weeks ago was saving Madoka.

Now she had gotten to a point in her life that she never reached before, and she felt frustrated. Frustrated at not knowing what she _should_ be feeling. She wanted to feel happy, to feel rewarded after finally achieving a happy ending to her painful quest. But had her quest really reached its end? It couldn't have. Kyubey was still out there, and he would attempt to contract with Madoka once again given the opportunity, that much was certain. Yet despite that, everything that happened ever since Walpurgisnacht's defeat felt so...calm. As far as she knew, Madoka hadn't even been seeing Kyubey a lot since that.

Homura's eyes began to feel heavy, the softness of the bed enveloping her in a comfortable warmth. Her last thought before sleep came upon her was to her, probably the most disturbing question.

Was it okay to feel hope again?

* * *

Madoka's eyes flashed open. It was past the middle of the night, around 2:00 A.M. She sat up in her bed, an uncomfortable feeling washing over her. She sighed. She was so tired that she forgot to go to the bathroom before going to bed.

Making sure not to wake up Homura or her family, she tiptoed throughout the hallway into the bathroom, quietly doing her business and washing her hands before heading back to bed. She then stopped in the middle of the hallway as she heard a noise. It was a soft rustling sound, coming from the spare bedroom where Homura was staying.

"Homura-chan?" She quietly said to herself. She assumed that Homura was merely turning over in her sleep, but something wasn't right. The rustling kept going and it wasn't stopping. Concern taking over her, Madoka quietly opened the door to check on the raven-haired girl. A soft gasp escaped her mouth as Madoka saw her.

Homura was trembling in her sleep, and her head was shaking back and forth. Although she was sleeping, a look of pain was very clear on her face, making Madoka's heart sink. Homura really was having nightmares, she thought.

Madoka didn't know what to do. Were you supposed to wake up somebody who was having a nightmare? She gently put her hand on the left shoulder of Homura's shaking body, and her eyes widened when she felt how cold she was. She was quite literally shivering with fear.

"M-Madoka...No…No!" Homura softly uttered in her sleep, which was more than what Madoka needed to hear to understand what she was dreaming about. Not bearing to see her like this anymore, Madoka gently climbed into the bed and tightly wrapped her arms around Homura in a warm embrace. Her shivering immediately stopped and was instead replaced with heavy breathing. Homura's eyes opened in shock, only to find the pinkette she had just seen suffer another horrible fate in a dream was lying down next to her, perfectly safe.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Madoka asked, her eyes closed and her arms still wrapped around the raven-haired girl. Homura remained silent for a moment before answering.

"Yes." Homura replied, closing her eyes yet again after a sad sigh.

"Did I...make the contract in it?" Madoka asked again, holding Homura against her even tighter. Again, Homura only responded with silence before nodding her head. "I see…" Madoka said, the two of them continuing to lie down next to each other. Madoka knew that being a magical girl was dangerous. She knew the price one had to pay for making a wish and becoming one. Yet despite that, Madoka on numerous occasions this past month was more than ready to make the contract. Madoka had fully prepared herself to do so to help the girls in the Walpurgisnacht battle.

But Walpurgisnacht was defeated, and the witch population in Mitakihara decreased rapidly as a result of that. Eventually, this city would be free from witches all together for the time being. Now, Madoka knew that she had no need to make the contract. So why was Homura still so afraid of her making it? Whatever the reason was, that night she saw for the first time just what that fear was doing to Homura. This past week she had seen her begin to slowly open up to her. No longer had she hidden herself away to prepare for Walpurgisnacht.

"If...you really don't need to fight witches anymore, then I promise I won't make the contract." Madoka stated.

Homura's eyes snapped open.

"You're lying." Homura replied. Madoka shook her head.

"It's not a lie. You and the others saved the city remember? Kyouko-chan, Sayaka-chan, Mami-san..." Madoka softly shuddered as she mentioned those last two names. "You all fought so hard and protected everyone." Madoka's hands found their way to Homura's flowing dark hair as she tightened her embrace. "So I'm not going to let all that go to waste." Madoka smiled. "Especially if it would make you sad."

"Madoka…" Homura uttered, shutting her eyes as she began to feel tears leaking out of them. She wrapped her arms around Madoka, returning the embrace. She had heard her say she wouldn't make the contract before in previous timelines. But this time however, Madoka's words felt genuine. It was like Madoka was speaking directly towards Homura's battered and bruised soul. Homura remained there as she felt the warmth of Madoka's body against her own, with Madoka's head resting below her own.

"Good night Homura-chan."

"Good night Madoka."

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter down!**

 **Special thanks to PK Atomyst for helping me out with this chapter, as writing the first (sober) meeting between Junko and Homura was pretty difficult at first, haha.**

 **While I think I did a good job, I'd love to hear what you think! Leave a review and let me know!**

 **Until next chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Homura had slept soundly throughout the night. As soon as Madoka had crawled into the bed with her she could say it was one of the most peaceful and wonderful sleeps she had in ages. Before she had always felt stressed out in some way when she had gone to bed, always worrying that she might have forgotten something crucial in the days leading up to Walpurgisnacht. Most of the time she didn't get much sleep at all, with the way she had stayed up so late to fight witches at night. She almost saw sleeping as a mere waste of time in that regard.

But when Madoka was lying next to her, Homura felt a warmth unlike anything she had felt before, and after Madoka made her promise to her, Homura had fallen asleep within minutes, and her nightmare-filled dreams were then replaced by pleasant ones, leaving a smile on the raven-haired girl's face as the morning daylight peeked through the window. Homura was still sound asleep though, not even realizing that Madoka had already woken up and was downstairs with Tomohisa.

She also didn't realize that another person had entered the room until she felt the pounding of little fists on her face. Homura's eyes opened up as the pounding was beginning to annoy her, only to be greeted with a big smiling face right in front of her eyes.

"UWAH!" Homura yelped as she shot up in the bed, sending the small child next to her into a fit of giggles. Throughout the timelines she had fought terrifying abominations of witches that would send shivers down the spines of mankind's strongest soldiers. Yet somehow, in that moment the staring grin of a small boy was one of most terrifying things she had scene in her life. Homura then heard a rush of footsteps run towards the room.

"Tatsuya no!" Madoka cried as she came in and saw that Homura was awake. "Oh, I'm sorry, Homura-chan!" Madoka bowed in apology before she picked up the giggling toddler. "Did he wake you?"

"Yes but...it's fine, don't worry." Homura replied, still getting over the shock of that rude awakening.

"Well in that case…" Madoka said as she yanked the covers off of Homura's bed. "Good morning Homura-chan!" Madoka smiled.

"Good morning!" Tatusya chimed in.

"G-Good morning…" Homura uttered, not at all used to being greeted like this early in the day. After Madoka formally introduced her to her baby brother, Madoka brought him back downstairs and put him into his high-chair, where Tomohisa was watching as he made breakfast. Junko was still asleep. Under normal circumstances, Madoka and Tatsuya would have given her a similar wake-up call, but Madoka knew that her mother was still recovering, and decided to let her sleep in. Thus leaving Madoka alone with Homura instead of her mother for her usual morning wash-up routine.

The two of them remained silent as they stood side by side, brushing their teeth. It was Madoka who broke the silence when she began brushing her hair.

"Hitomi-chan said we could study together at the library today along with Kamijou-kun."

"Did she? That's good." Homura replied, gritting her teeth as her mind flashed back to when she froze up in front of the classroom. It almost felt strange to her, accepting assistance from someone she knew was one of Madoka's closest friends, yet she herself almost never interacted with her. Come to think of it, that reminded her of something important. "Actually, how are they?" Homura asked. "I understand that they were also close friends of..." Homura trailed off.

"Hitomi-chan sounded all right when I talked to her yesterday, but…" Madoka trailed off as she gathered her thoughts. "I wouldn't be surprised if they brought it up there." Madoka continued, knowing full well what Homura was talking about. Her head tilted downwards. "Homura-chan, what should we tell them?"

"We can't tell them anything." Homura stated as she brushed her own hair. She gave it her usual flick with her wrist. "You know they wouldn't understand the truth."

"I know but…" Madoka struggled to find a response.

"You're not at fault for anything." Homura assured her, thinking that was what was bothering her. She put a hand on her shoulder. "They have no reason to blame you for what happened. If they did, I won't allow it." Madoka looked back up at the raven-haired girl.

"I don't think they'd blame me, I just feel bad that I know what happened to her and they don't…" Madoka sighed. Homura knew that guilt of hers all too well. She had seen her act the same way whenever Mami Tomoe fell to the witch Charlotte throughout the many timelines. Homura sighed. She wasn't about to let this bother Madoka all day.

"If the question comes up, leave all the explaining to me." Homura exclaimed. "If Hitomi Shizuki is truly your friend, she won't give us any trouble on the matter." Homura looked at herself in the mirror before thinking that she looked all right to go downstairs. "Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We should go and have breakfast now." Not seeing any reason to argue, Madoka thanked and followed her.

"Good morning you two!" Tomohisa happily greeted the two girls as they came downstairs, upon which both girls returned the greeting. "Breakfast should be ready in just a few minutes." He stated as Tatsuya had let out a happy squeak from his high-chair upon hearing that.

"Breakfast! Breakfast!" The toddler bounced in his seat, eagerly awaiting his morning pancakes.

"Moooorning…" Junko yawned as she entered the kitchen shortly afterwards, still in her pajamas.

"How are you feeling?" Tomohisa asked, pouring the batter on the hot pan.

"Much better. Gonna take it easy for today and I should be back at one hundred percent tomorrow!" Junko smiled, to which Tomohisa returned. Soon, the pancakes were ready and the family all sat down together to begin eating.

Homura gazed at the three giant pancakes in front of her for a moment after thanking the family for the meal. The only other person she could recall herself eating with was Mami Tomoe, a long, long time ago. After pouring a little syrup on them she slowly cut her food and took a bite.

Her eyes widened as the taste of the pancakes enveloped her mouth. The juice of the syrup squeezing out from the soaked pancake. The texture of the food massaged her tongue and softly slid right down her throat. An sudden warmth erupted throughout her chest as she cut a piece and took another bite. The food was cooked to perfection. She had never tasted anything like this before.

"Oho...looks like you outdid yourself this time honey." Junko quipped, noticing the stunned look on Homura's face as she continued eating. "There's a lot more where that came from, so if you want seconds just ask!"

"I don't think I've seen you look this happy before, Homura-chan!" Madoka giggled. Homura realized at that point that her lips had contorted into a wide smile as she was eating. She couldn't even control it as she continued putting pancake pieces in her mouth. It was like every bite she took filled her with feelings of acceptance and welcoming.

Homura basked all of it and gazed at Madoka's smile. Tears threatened to leak from Homura's eyes as as the smile on her face showed no signs of leaving anytime soon. These were the fruits of her hard labour across those countless timelines.

" _Yes...this was the happiness that I wished for…_ " Homura thought as she continued to eat, thanking whatever gods or higher beings were up there for gracing her with a moment like this.

* * *

"So if you just remember the steps in this order, you should have no trouble in solving derivatives, Akemi-san."

"I see. I think I'm beginning to understand this now."

After finishing breakfast, Madoka and Homura left the house and headed straight towards the public library, where Hitomi and Kyousuke were there waiting for them. The timing had been perfect for a study session. The library had just opened and there weren't many people visiting that early on a Sunday morning.

Homura had found Hitomi to be an excellent tutor. If she didn't know better she would have thought she was better at teaching than their actual math teacher. Madoka was the only one there to actually voice that praise, however. Homura had stayed mostly silent throughout the study session, only speaking up to ask the occasional question.

"Wow...I didn't think it would be that easy!" Madoka had said, amazed at how natural solving the math problems came to her now. "You're amazing Hitomi-chan!"

"It's all about how you break down the problems." Hitomi replied with a smile. "Once you figure out all the steps, it just takes practice from there." She pointed at the questions she had solved with Madoka in the text book. "Try doing those same problems over and over again for a bit. Train your mind to memorize the process so you don't make any mistakes."

Homura couldn't help but clench her fists on her lap after hearing those words. Her face had also darkened a bit as well the more she thought about them, to which Hitomi noticed. Hitomi at first didn't know what to make of Madoka asking to bring Homura along with her for a study-group. The transfer-student didn't seem to have time to hang out with anybody after school. While she was generally polite, there was a certain cold aura to her that Hitomi couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved by. Nevertheless, she attempted to start a conversation with her.

"So Akemi-san, how have you been finding Mitakihara?" Hitomi asked, causing the raven-haired girl to look directly at her, those violet eyes seeming to stare directly into her soul, while at the same time containing no hint of emotion whatsoever. "It's been about a month since you've transferred here, hasn't it?" There was a bit of a pause before Homura responded.

"It's fine." Homura bluntly stated. She then looked back down at her work, seemingly having nothing else to say on the matter.

"I see. I hope that nasty storm the other day hasn't affected you." Hitomi replied, not wanting to stop talking there. "Our house took a lot of damage and we have to stay over with some relatives until it's repaired."

"My apartment didn't sustain any damage. Madoka and I were fortunate enough to be living far enough from the city to avoid the brunt of the storm." Homura replied, hoping against hope that the green-haired girl wasn't about to bring up the subject she had dreaded talking about with them since that morning. She began thinking of ways to change the subject, when she noticed something in the corner of her eye.

Kyousuke, who had mostly been silent until now, was staring at Homura with an analytical look on his face. "Huh...interesting…" He uttered softly before looking down, causing everyone at the table to look at him.

"What is it?" Homura asked. "What were you staring at just now?"

"Huh?" Kyousuke perked up, noticing that all eyes were on him. "Oh it's nothing, don't worry."

"K-Kamijou-kun!" Hitomi spoke up, raising her voice a bit. "Why were you staring at Akemi-san? You've hardly said a word to me since we arrived here!" Hitomi gasped, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "No...it can't be...you've gotten bored of me haven't you?!"

"N-no! Hitomi-chan, that's not true!" Kyousuke quickly waved his hands in front of her. He and Madoka both knew that once she began her over-emotional ramblings it was difficult to get her to stop.

"Then what is it?!" Hitomi practically pleaded for an answer. "You don't stare at a pretty girl for a few minutes for nothing! Tell me the truth, please!"

"Okay, okay!" Kyousuke sighed, before looking back at Madoka and Homura. "I was just wondering if I had seen Akemi-san before when I was in the hospital, that's all." This caused Homura to furrow her eyebrows at him. She didn't recall seeing him there, nor did she recall seeing him much at all before today. The only thing she knew about him was that he was the reason Sayaka made her wish. She had always felt a twinge of resentment towards the boy for that. Indirect as it was, a lot of trouble Sayaka Miki had given her throughout the countless timelines Homura had been through wouldn't have occurred had it not been for him.

"I'm sure you must be thinking of someone else." Homura replied, reaching into her bag and taking a drink from her water bottle. "I don't recall seeing you there at all."

"Are you sure?" Kyousuke asked again. "Now that I think about it, you do look familiar. Actually…" Kyousuke turned towards Hitomi. "Hitomi-chan, can I borrow your reading glasses for a minute?"

"Sure! Anything for you Kamijou-kun!" Hitomi responded, wasting no time to fulfill her boyfriend's request, causing him to roll his eyes. She took the scarlet glasses off her head and handed them to Kyousuke, who proceeded to hold them up in front of him, towards Homura's face. Homura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow towards him, wondering what he was up to. A sudden realization of what it was came to her as she quickly turned her head away.

"It is you…" Kyousuke uttered. "You're the girl that bumped into me in the hospital that day!"

"Eh? Really?" Madoka asked, becoming intrigued by this topic of conversation too, much to Homura's dismay.

"Yes, it was when I was still going through rehab." Kyousuke began to explain, the memory from that time becoming clearer to him. "I apparently had overdid it that day and was pretty sore in my legs as I was being escorted back to my hospital room in a wheelchair. We had just turned a corner at the same time when you seemed to have been turning it, and the next thing I knew you tripped and knocked yourself into me." Kyousuke paused as he got another look at Homura's face. The raven-haired girl's eyebrows had furrowed even further as he told his story. "Looking at your face, I think it was definitely you. The only difference is that you were wearing glasses and your hair was in long pigtails."

"Really?" Madoka said aloud as she tried to picture it in her mind. The calm, cool, and collected Homura wearing glasses and having her hair in pigtails? It seemed unbelievable the more she thought about it. At the same time though, she thought Homura would look incredibly cute in an outfit like that!

"Like I said," Homura replied, not sounding at all amused. "You must be thinking of someone else. Let's just get back to studying."

"No, I'm pretty sure it was you." Kyousuke argued. He then frowned. "I should probably apologize. I got really mad at you for no reason back then."

"What do you mean?" Madoka asked as Homura clenched her fists under the table.

"I...wasn't exactly in a good mood when I was recovering. I'm sure Sayaka must have told you about that." Kyousuke replied sadly. "I kinda yelled at her in anger, telling her to watch where she was going. I didn't even care about how much pain she seemed to be in when she fell, nor did I care about how much you were apologizing." Kyousuke then bowed slightly towards Homura. "For that, I'm really sorry Akemi-san."

"Well your apology is wasted because I told you that wasn't me!" Homura shot back, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. This shocked both Hitomi and Kyousuke, having not seen that kind of emotion come from her in the past month. As much as Homura wanted to deny it, a twinge of what Kyousuke was saying seemed to be resonating within the deepest parts of her mind. Although she couldn't really remember it happening, it didn't really seem like he was lying.

"Homura-chan…" Madoka uttered softly, pulling on the raven-haired girl's sleeve. She motioned for her to look around. More people had entered the library at that point, and Homura's outburst had caused more than a few eyes in the room to be on them. Noticing this, Homura sat back down and regained her composure. Madoka's eyes told her everything in that moment. These two weren't worth getting angry about.

"You can insist it was me all you like, but I have no recollection of ever meeting you before." Homura continued, her voice once again returning to her usual emotionless tone. "Whatever the case, that's all in the past now. There's no sense in worrying about it."

"R-right, I guess so." Kyousuke replied, finally dropping the topic of conversation. Although he was now convinced more than ever that Homura Akemi was the girl he saw that day, he could see that she didn't enjoy talking about it. An awkward silence filled the room for a few minutes before it was broken by Hitomi.

"I knew it…" Hitomi uttered, shaking in her seat. She stood up, her eyes gazed towards the floor. Everyone at the table noticed the dark expression that had suddenly appeared on her face. "There's no other explanation for this…You...Akemi-san..." She trailed off as her head shot upwards and pointed an accusing finger towards Kyousuke. "You two are long-lost childhood friends, aren't you?!"

"W-what?!" Both Kyousuke and Homura cried out, not at all expecting that answer from her. "How in the world did you come to that conclusion?!" Kyousuke stammered.

" _Oh no...here she goes again…_ " Madoka thought to herself, knowing full well about the act Hitomi was about to perform.

"It all makes too much sense! A girl who can't recall her memories, you having faint recollections of her, an embarrassing first meeting, it's too obvious what this all means!" She rambled as her hands clenched into fists and tears began to fill her eyes. "I should have known the strings of fate wouldn't have let you be together with a boring ordinary girl like meeeeeeeeee!" Hitomi cried out as she ran away, earning the group several unpleasant stares as she passed by several bystanders.

"Hitomi wait!" Kyousuke cried out as he walked after her as fast as his healing legs would allow him, leaving Madoka and Homura alone at the table.

"...It seems I said too much." Homura closed her eyes and quietly apologized to Madoka, who politely shook her head and sighed.

"No, Hitomi-chan is always pretty dramatic, it's not your fault." Madoka replied, knowing the green-haired girl would be back to her normal self eventually. The pinkette then looked back up to Homura. "But, Homura-chan, why did you get so angry at Kamijou-kun?" The raven-haired girl looked down at Madoka solemnly, afraid that she would ask that question. "I mean...if that really wasn't you who he was talking about…"

"I'm sorry I acted that way in front of you." Homura sighed. "To tell the truth, I really don't remember seeing him." She looked down at her hands. "It's just...hearing the way he described who he ran into, brought back unpleasant memories for me." Homura gazed at her Soul Gem ring, the very symbol of who she was right now. "The kind of person I was before I became a magical girl...it's not a subject I enjoy talking about."

Homura had mentioned next to nothing about her past life as a normal human to Madoka before. The only details she gave her were that she had grown up in an orphanage, and not much else. Based on that, Madoka could tell that Homura must have had a very lonely and sad life. The fact that Homura was able to be so strong in spite of all that was another reason why Madoka liked her so much. But still, for the way Kyousuke had described the girl he bumped into to make Homura that angry...just what kind of person was she?

Madoka scooted closer to Homura, and proceeded to grab Homura's hand, holding it close to her.

"Whoever you were in the past doesn't really matter anymore right?" Madoka asked as Homura's eyes gazed over to her in surprise. "That's why it's in the past, after all. I like the Homura-chan that I know today. Even if the person who Kamijou-kun described was you, I wouldn't think that was a bad thing."

"...Thank you." Homura replied after a pause, taking Madoka's words to heart. She leaned back and closed her eyes. Truth be told, what Madoka thought of her wasn't what bothered her. Homura knew that Madoka would still be her friend even if she was still the timid, useless girl she had been in the past. No, Homura herself wasn't entirely sure of just what part of Kyousuke's description irritated her so much. It was as if simply hearing about her old, useless self had struck a nerve in the back of her head. Nevertheless, she did everything she could to keep it there for now. "You're right. It's in the past. It's nothing I need to worry about."

A few minutes later, Kyousuke and Hitomi returned to the table. The rest of their study session went as smooth as it did before, but no further attempts at a conversation were made.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Kyousuke and Hitomi, Madoka and Homura spent the rest of the day together. The both of them bought lunch at the mall, listened to music at the music store, and continued doing everyday mundane activities normal teenage girls were meant to do.

Late in the day, as Homura began to walk Madoka home, she felt a vibration in her pocket followed by the sound of a bell, indicating a notification popping up on her phone. This confused her. Homura didn't have any social media accounts, and the only person who could have been texting her was standing right next to her now. She picked up her phone and looked at it. Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to their normal blank state.

"Homura-chan? Is something wrong?" Madoka asked,

"No." Homura replied, putting the phone back in her pocket. "It was just a reminder that I had set long ago to return to the hospital tomorrow for my usual check-up." She had quickly scrolled through the calendar app on her phone, and she had seen dozens of those little reminders scattered throughout the following months. It was yet another thing she had forgotten about during her quest to save her only friend.

"Oh…" Madoka said. "So I guess you'll be missing school tomorrow then, huh?"

"I didn't say I would be going." Homura replied, flicking her long hair in her usual cool fashion. "I healed my weak heart with my magic. There's no point in me going to the hospital anymore."

"That's no good, Homura-chan!" Madoka pouted, causing the raven-haired girl to look back at her. "Even if you did use magic to heal yourself, you shouldn't skip your doctor appointments like that! What if something else is wrong with you and you don't know about it?"

"There's really nothing to worry about. If something else is wrong with me, I'm sure I can heal that with magic as well." Homura retorted. "Going back there would only be a waste of time."

"That's not right." Madoka stated. "I don't think magic should be used like that if you don't need to." Homura looked at Madoka with confusion after she said that, causing the pinkette to clarify what she meant. "It's good that you healed your heart with it, but wouldn't it be better to save your magic for emergencies? Also, if something was wrong with you, isn't going to the doctor how you find that out?"

Homura didn't respond at first. She knew what Madoka was saying wasn't false. In reality Homura really did not want to go back to the hospital under any circumstance. What little memories she could recall of that place only filled her with disgust. Maybe it was the sterile, colourless atmosphere of the whole place. Maybe it was the doctors who gave fake smiles they probably gave to every patient. Maybe it was the fact that she had spent half a year there feeling like human trash. What it probably was, however, was the fact that it also served as the place she woke up in after every failed timeline.

Regardless, she couldn't deny the logic behind Madoka's words. Homura also couldn't help but assume that she couldn't avoid her appointments forever. The last thing she needed was people getting unnecessary concerns for her and needing to come up with half-baked excuses.

"I suppose you're right." Homura sighed, conceding defeat in this argument. "I'll go tomorrow then." She added, causing Madoka to give her a warm smile. It was yet another reminder to Homura that her own personal desires and pains meant nothing to her as long as Madoka was still able to smile and live her daily life. The two then continued their trek back to Madoka's home.

" _Hey_." A familiar voice rang in Homura's mind, causing her to stop in her tracks. " _Up here._ " Homura's head tilted upwards, looking at the buildings around her. Sure enough, to her left she spotted a familiar red-headed girl on top of one of them. One of the five girls who helped them defeat Walpurgisnacht, Kyouko Sakura. The redhead looked at Homura for a moment before receding towards the center of the rooftop, out of sight. " _You mind meeting me at the arcade tonight? Alone? There's something I gotta tell you."_

"Homura-chan? What's wrong?" Madoka asked.

"Oh, it's nothing Madoka." Homura replied. "I was just thinking." The raven-haired girl added as she continued walking with her again, with Kyouko Sakura's words echoing in her mind. Homura hadn't seen her much after the Walpurgisnacht battle. Whenever she did, she never acted like her usual bratty self. Homura expected that much, of course, considering what happened. But Kyouko wouldn't speak much or stick around for long on the few occasions that Homura did see her. That was going to change tonight, it seemed.

The raven-haired girl and the pinkette remained silent with their own thoughts the rest of the way to the latter's home.

* * *

Homura had stayed for dinner at Madoka's house when she got there, courtesy of Junko's invitation. Despite the raven-haired girl's insistence of not wanting to be a burden, the older woman was quite insistent on the matter.

After saying goodbye to Madoka and leaving, It was 8:00 at night when Homura arrived at the arcade. She stepped through the small doors and into the brightly lit area. At this hour, the arcade was fairly packed. Children, teenagers, and adults of all ages were at the various machines, with smiles and excitement all over their faces. If one were to look at the scene, they could hardly imagine that the city they lived in had recently been hit with a large storm.

Homura walked past all the various machines and towards the one she knew Kyouko would be playing at. If she wasn't there right now, she knew she would be there eventually. The dancing video game was the one she always found Kyouko playing throughout the timelines when she came to discuss the matter of Walpurgisnacht.

"Took you long enough."

Sure enough, Homura had arrived exactly on time and was right on the money. The redhead was stomping her feet away, moving at a brisk pace as she kept up with the arrows on the screen. She had a Pocky stick hanging from between her teeth, and was grinning as she moved about. This was a good sign, Homura thought. This was the Kyouko Sakura she knew. Energetic, bratty, always eating, and all around strong. Both physically and emotionally. Although Kyouko was only exhibiting three of those traits at the moment, three out of four was still an improvement from none.

"You wanted to talk?" Homura asked.

"Yeah. Gimmie a minute here though." Kyouko replied, grunting as she tapped her feet on the machine even faster as the screen filled with even more arrows. She must have been playing at the highest difficulty, Homura thought. She guessed if she had stopped time to look at the screen, even she probably wouldn't have been able to tell just what order those arrows were supposed to be pressed in. Yet Kyouko seemed to be getting every step right almost effortlessly. Her feet seemed to be tapping faster and faster, until finally the song came to a close, the characters in the game giving the redhead an over-enthusiastic congratulations. "Aaaaaand that's the high score. I'd like to see anybody else in this city try and beat that." The redhead smirked at Homura as she handed her a box filled with Pocky. "Want some?"

Almost instinctively, Homura reached out and grabbed a stick. She ate it quickly, not wanting to waste any time.

"You haven't been yourself ever since the battle with Walpurgisnacht." Homura stated bluntly, wanting to get to the point. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Homura asked, although she had already gotten an idea before she arrived at the arcade.. "Does this have something to do with-"

"Shut up." Kyouko shot back in a dry tone as she stepped off the machine. She walked behind Homura and gave her a pat on the back. "Go on, give it a shot. I wanna see what moves you got." Kyouko grinned with the Pocky still in her mouth.

"Kyouko I-"

"Do it." Kyouko interrupted, not taking no for an answer. Homura sighed as she stepped onto the machine, and put her money in it. Whatever Kyouko wanted, she didn't seem ready to talk about it right now. This was clearly an effort of stalling things on her part. "Oh, and no cheating by using your magic." She added. "If I can do this without it then so can you."

"Very well." Homura replied as she scrolled through the list of songs, looking for one on the normal difficulty. After selecting a song titled: "Colorful", Homura's eyes focused on the screen as it began to slowly fill with arrows and the music started. Homura frowned as she began rapidly moving her feet to hit the right arrows at the right time. This game was harder than it looked. Even with the arrows moving slower, Homura still had trouble moving her feet at the right pace. From Kyouko's perspective, it looked less like Homura was dancing and more like she was doing some strange exercise. Homura grunted as she heard Kyouko snickering behind her. Every time she missed a step the game would flash the word "BAD" at her and it would slightly distort the sound of the song. It happened so often that Homura could barely even hear the music around her as she struggled just to stay in the game. When the song was over, Homura was greeted with a sad anime character on the screen chastising her for her poor performance. By then Kyouko was chuckling softly.

"Man, when you're a magical girl you're all cool and badass, but you're really kind of a dork doing normal stuff like this, aren't you?" Kyouko teased.

"Kyouko." Homura spoke in her usual emotionless tone as she stepped off the machine, wanting to erase the memory of her having done that from her brain. Homura decided to inquire what she had an inkling of what was on Kyouko's mind. "Enough stalling. What did you want to talk about?"

"Always gotta get to the point right away with you, huh?" Kyouko sighed, the teasing smile on her face vanishing and being replaced with a solemn one. "All right, here's the thing. I'm leaving Mitakihara tomorrow."

Homura's eyes widened. She certainly wasn't expecting that answer. Her mind raced to find a possible answer on why she planned on leaving, and came to what she thought was the obvious conclusion. "Does this have to do with Sayaka Miki and Mami Tomoe?"

The redhead looked down as she swallowed what was left of the Pocky piece in her mouth. "Yeah."

"You know what happened wasn't your fault." Homura replied.

"I know." Kyouko growled, clenching her free hand into a fist. "But it sure damn feels like it was. Just when me and Sayaka were finally starting to become friends, she had to go and..." She trailed off, not wanting to say it. "I thought that I had snapped some sense into her but then she and Mami had to go and get themselves killed in a blaze of glory like that!"

Homura closed her eyes in remembrance of her fallen comrades. The truth was that this was more of a bittersweet ending than it was a happy one for her. Despite her finally being able to unite the three of them and lead them into battle with Walpurgisnacht together, she and Kyouko were the only ones who walked away alive from that fight.

"I could have stopped them, damn it." Kyouko's fist began shaking. "I was an idiot to think she was okay. If I had just said something before the fight started maybe they wouldn't have pulled something like that." Homura gazed around as Kyouko spoke, looking at all the happy children and teenagers playing the arcade games without a care in the world.

"I don't think their minds would have changed regardless of what you said." Homura replied. "You saw how Tomoe reacted when she learned the truth, along with the rest of you. You wouldn't be here right now had I not stopped her in time." Homura looked back towards Kyouko. "Also, you managed to prevent it from happening to Sayaka Miki. Be proud that she didn't fall to that fate in the end."

Kyouko grit her teeth at the memory. Calling the scene where the dark truth about Magical Girls was revealed to them ugly was an understatement, to say the least. Homura had managed to get Kyubey to tell them by asking him key questions she knew he wouldn't be able to twist his answer in any other way than the direct truth. Homura had planned for that though, knowing how Mami reacted to the truth beforehand and managed to restrain her before she could break down and kill them all.

Sayaka was another story. She was already in a bad enough mental state when she learned about her soul being out of her body. But being destined to become one of the monsters she worked to fight against? It seemed to have sent shivers down her spine. Homura later learned that It was Kyouko who managed to snap her out of it, wanting to do everything she could to make sure it didn't happen to her.

"Yeah." Kyouko growled, finally responding. "Still doesn't change the fact that she's dead." She continued, grabbing another Pocky from the box and chomping down on it. "Anyway, with her and Mami gone, I don't have any reason to stick around. Just gonna move on to the next city I guess, like I always did before."

"We could always just split the Infinity Grief Seed." Homura inquired. "With that, there's no reason for us to continue fighting as Magical Girls."

"Yeah, somehow I doubt that." Kyouko retorted. "Kyubey said that that Grief Seed would last a lifetime, not two lifetimes." Homura's eyes widened as she realized that truth. "It doesn't really matter anyway Homura. I've already made up my mind." Kyouko turned around and looked outside the window of the arcade, staring at the city streets. "What with Sayaka and Mami having lived here, and the fact that my Dad's church is on the border of this place, if I stay here any longer it probably won't be long before...it happens to me." Kyouko gave off a slight shudder as she said those words, hoping that Homura knew what she was referring to. She turned around and gave a sad smile that the raven-haired girl had never seen Kyouko make before. "And I sure as hell don't want you or Madoka to be around to see that."

The both of them stared at each other for a few minutes, not saying a word. They had tuned out the lively, happy atmosphere of the arcade, making it feel like the both of them were the only people there. Homura didn't know what else to say at that point. If Kyouko was truly going to go through with this, she saw no reason to deny her.

"I see." Homura broke the silence. "So this is goodbye then."

"Yeah." Kyouko replied. "Take care of yourself, and Madoka too, okay? You got a second chance now. Hold on to it as tightly as you can." Homura nodded as Kyouko turned around and lifted up her hand. "See you later Homura." Kyouko said as she started walking in the direction of the arcade's exit empty-handed. Homura noticed that Kyouko left the box of Pocky on the edge of the windowsill. There was still lots of Pocky inside it.

"You're not going to finish it?" Homura asked, grabbing the box.

"Nah, I lost my appetite."

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait! This chapter was pretty difficult to write. I really didn't want to do a mediocre job on these scenes.**

 **So yeah, as I've been hinting, Sayaka and Mami are both dead in this story. This is primarily a story focusing on Homura's life as a human being instead of a Magical Girl, and if those two were still around it'd make it difficult to keep that focus.**

 **Don't think this is the last you'll see of Kyouko though. I'm not that heartless. :P**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **-TTGL Machine**


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